Beginner in Chinese?

Learn Chinese Through Songs #8 – Hill

Today’s Chinese song is Hill (山丘) by Jonathan Lee (李宗盛). Lee made his name in the 1980s and 1990s, writing music and lyrics for many top Mandarin pop performers, and was a successful producer in the 2000s. He also sings himself, and this is his most successful recent hit, released in 2013. It has appeared on popular Chinese TV shows, and it’s also a popular choice at karaoke!

The poetic and soulful lyrics and Lee’s distinctive voice make this a really interesting pop song to learn. The original video has the lyrics handwritten across the screen, and they are a bit hard to read if you’re learning to read printed characters, so I found this version with the lyrics on the screen.

On the video you’ll see the lyrics in traditional Chinese characters, plus the Pinyin and the English translation. I’ve put the simplified character lyrics below.

xiǎng shuō què hái méi shuō de hái hěn duō
想说却还没说的 还很多
There’s so much I still have to say